Finlandia and more

With everything closed for the national holiday today, it seemed like a good time to do more sightseeing of important buildings. Töölönlahti is a huge and very beautiful lake just northwest of the Central Railway Station. It's lined with parkland, play areas, and bike and pedestrian paths that filled up with people as the day went on.

At the northwest corner of the lake is the ultra-modern Finnish National Opera House. This is the western entrance facing the street Mannerheimintie.

This is the eastern side facing the lake. Alas, no performances while I am in town. I've now seen six great European opera houses this summer, without seeing a single performance in any of them.

Here's a view of the lake looking south. In the distant right is the Finlandia Concert Hall. That fountain spewing water to the left in the lake appears to be purely decorative.

On the walk down to the Concert Hall, I saw another speedwalker with cross-country poles, which seems to be popular summer exercise here.

Here's a better view of the Finlandia Concert Hall. "Finlandia" is also the name of Sibelius' most popular composition.

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.